Chart of the week: A quarter of global adspend goes to Google and Facebook

Global ad spend across all formats and platforms is expected to rise to US$98.3 billion in 2017. That's according to research company WARC's report "Global Ad Trends". Only this year, digital ad spend has overtaken TV as the biggest recipient of ad dollars.

However, not all digital publishers are having a ball. A closer look at the figures explains why the champagne corks aren't popping all over the digital publishing world.

Most of the digital ad spend worldwide (61 per cent) is going to Google (44 per cent) and Facebook (18 per cent). Even if you count in ad revenue across all media, the digital duopoly still snaps up a quarter of all ad dollars spent this year. WARC's ad spend database covers 96 markets worldwide.

This week we hear from Jeff Kofman, founder and CEO of Trint, about the dark abyss of transcription, whether Google and Facebook are serious about funding journalism and the good the bad and the ugly of social media.

Online publishing is a tricky thing. No matter how good their content is, many publishers feel like they’re at the mercy of Google and Facebook, because all it takes is a tiny change to their algorithms for publishers to lose half their traffic overnight.

Often referred to as the “Fourth Estate”, the media plays an important role in any democratic society. A free press is essential to hold governments accountable and inform the public, thus enabling voters to partake in political debate and make qualified decisions.

Formerly known as the Reader's Digest Association, Trusted Media Brands is a multi-platform media company based in New York, that boasts a portfolio of high profile brands. Over the years it had developed a strong and loyal audience for its print products, yet knew it needed to innovate in digital to survive and prosper.

Meredith Corporation announced an agreement to sell the Fortune media brand for $150m cash to Fortune Media Group Holdings, wholly owned by Chatchaval Jiaravanon. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in 2018.